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Phineas and Ferb Wiki:Newsletter submissions/Guest Merchandise Review: Food for Thought
Given my undercover position as a world-famous grocery clerk (a title I share only with a certain few), I spend a lot of time with food. And since Phineas and Ferb are slowly making their way onto food products as Disney continues to branch out the franchise, I figured a small review of the few Phineas and Ferb food products that are out there right now was in order. Phineas and Ferb have been linked to food one way or another right out of the starting gate- Subway restaurants featured toys of the characters in their kids meals around the time the show debuted- but as the Mouse House plans to make Phineas and Ferb their next signature stars, it's no surprise that the dynamic duo are now starting to make their way onto supermarket shelves alongside Disney's top-tier stars such as Winnie-the-Pooh, the Toy Story gang, and the main mouse himself. So far, I've only been able to find two food items featuring Phineas and Ferb, but with school back in session for practically every kid in America except Phineas and Ferb, these two items will most likely find their way into a bunch of lunch boxes, helping to give a little reminder of those 104 days of summer vacation during the 261 that come to end it. As Hannah Montana prepares to hang up her blond wig for good, Phineas and Ferb have taken over her spot as one of the characters on Breyer's Disney yogurt. As you really can't do much to make yogurt look like Phineas and Ferb, the motifs here are mainly cosmetic ones as the two wunderkinder and Agent P take center stage on all sides of the yogurt cups, as well as offering game tips for Disney's upcoming Phineas and Ferb Ride Again video game under the lid. The yogurt itself comes in two flavors, Strawberry and Mixed Berry. It's officially called "Breyer's Swirled Yogurt," and you can see in the picture where the "swirled" part comes in. The yogurt itself is sweet and almost bubble-gum-like in its flavor, although it isn't the best yogurt I've ever tasted. The other food also happens to be the very first I've seen on shelves featuring the characters- Kellogg's fruit flavored snacks (which in a previous era would probably just be called "fruit snacks," but in today's honest world, "flavored" must be added since the snacks are only made with 20% real fruit). The packaging is appropriately bright and eye-catching, featuring an activity on the back with a "secret message" from Phineas and Ferb (one that kids will probably be trying to follow a lot more now that school is back in session). The snacks themselves are definitely recognizable as the characters and are very good likenesses for something that's meant to be consumed. It's hard to judge some because of the colors, but the Doofenshmirtz in particular is very well done. It's been a while since I've eaten a fruit (flavored) snack, so I decided to go all Consumer Reports and compare the Phineas and Ferb snacks with two other brands: one featuring their spongy rival made by General Mills under the Betty Crocker brand name, and a store brand featuring Snoopy and his Peanuts pals. Being a mass-produced item that isn't based on its looks, there will be most likely be a few odds and ends here and there, but the P&F snacks certainly look the best in terms of general eye appeal and consistent character representation. SpongeBob's pal Patrick looks like he has a crushed face, while other members of the Bikini Bottom bunch are barely recognizable at first glance. Perhaps not surprisingly for a store-brand snack, the Snoopy snacks, though more visually appealing than the SpongeBob ones, were the least consistent in terms of uniform look- one Lucy I found was just a head. Interestingly, the Snoopy snacks were also the only ones in which the color did not correspond to the character- various characters were seen in various colors. But the most important question for a food is: how does it taste? According to the packaging, both the P&F and SpongeBob snacks are flavored in strawberry, grape, orange, and cherry, while the Snoopy snacks are blue raspberry, tropical punch, watermelon, and sour apple. I can't really tell the difference between flavors, but as far as the Phineas and Ferb snacks go, the Perry the Platypus ones are by far the best-tasting, though most of them aren't that bad. SpongeBob's fruit snacks are soft and chewy and taste really fruity, while the Snoopy snacks come a close second in terms of taste. Although not as visually appealing as the Phineas and Ferbs, SpongeBob takes the crown in taste. Now before Phineas and Ferb fans start burning me in effigy, let me explain. I'm not saying the Phineas and Ferb snacks are horrible- far from it. In fact, if you gave me any of the three brands of fruit snacks- excuse me, fruit flavored snacks- and told me they were the only thing I could ever eat for the rest of my life, I would gladly take whichever of the three you handed me- they all taste good and they all have their merits. Have a taste test of your own by comparing the Phineas and Ferb snacks to rival brands and see if your opinion is the same as mine. For those of you who may cringe in horror at the thought of eating Phineas and Ferb, rest assured that these are only food-based recreations of our favorite friends and that no cartoon characters were harmed in the making of this review. And for those of you cringing at the thought of me spending six paragraphs talking about food, I'm sure most of the people reading this are as obsessive when it comes to all things Phineas and Ferb as I am, or if they aren't, at least Irving is probably reading this. As Disney continues to bring Phineas and Ferb into the Disney spotlight character position, I'm sure we'll see more food products featuring them in the months to come. And you can be sure that I or someone else will have my thoughts on them. It's been determined that kids think foods taste better when they have a favorite character on the package- if that's the case, I wonder if Disney will place Phineas and Ferb on fruits and vegetables as they have other characters. For this non-kid produceophobe, that will be the ultimate taste test. Guest_Merchandise_Review:_Food_for_Thought